Historical Cities: Ancient Culture Integrated into Modern Civilization

Transcription

1 The 14 th World Conference of the League of Historical Cities Historical Cities: Ancient Culture Integrated into Modern Civilization Sep Yangzhou(China)

2 The 14 th World Conference of Historical Cities held in Yangzhou, China from September 2 to 4, The 14 th World Conference of Historical Cities was held from September 2 to 4 in Yangzhou, China and its outcome was very successful. More than 100 people from 29 cities gathered from all over the world and had meaningful discussions on the future of the historical cities under the theme of Historical Cities: Ancient Culture Integrated into Modern Civilization. In the General Assembly held on September 4, the Yangzhou Declaration was adopted. Please view the following for details: YANGZHOU DECLARATION OF THE 14TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF HISTORICAL CITIES We, the representatives from historical cities around the world have gathered in Yangzhou, China, from September 2 to 4, 2014 to conduct dialogues and exchanges for the harmonious development of our cultural inheritance and the civilization of modern cities. With thousands of years of history, historical cities symbolize the progress of human civilization. Therefore, it is our duty to preserve the global environment, and to seek the sustainable development and a brighter future for our shared treasures. Today, we face common challenges: How can we retain the cultures of our historical cities, while we are developing our economies for the benefit of our people; and how can we reasonably develop our cultural relics for sustaining our prosperity. It is crucial for us to increase our exchanges, strengthen our cooperation, and harvest all our wisdoms through the League of Historical Cities for the green growth of our cities. With these common aspirations, we declare: 1. We shall adopt the slogan: Historical Cities: Ancient Culture Integrated into Modern Civilization 2. We pledge to contact our counterparts in other historical cities to conserve and develop our traditional cultures and the global environment. We also encourage youth exchange programs for this purpose. 3. As citizens of historical cities, we will actively preserve, enhance, and promote our traditions and cultures at all levels, amidst ongoing globalization. 4. We pledge to actively enhance the understanding of cultural values within our communities, especially within the younger generation. 5. We pledge to plan programs to sponsor local and regional initiatives relating to the restoration and management of heritage values. 4 September 2014 in Yangzhou, China

3 <Period> 2-4 September 2014 <Theme> Historical Cities: Ancient Culture Integrated into Modern Civilization <Program> Day 1 (Sept. 2) 13:30 Opening Ceremony & Keynote Speech 15:00 Round Table (Presentations by 5 city representatives) 19:00 Welcome Dinner Opening Ceremony Day 2 (Sept.3) 09:00 Youth Forum themed: Revitalization of Historical Districts (continued until 12:00) Presentations by representatives from Yangzhou, Konya, Kyoto, and Honolulu followed by group discussion. 10:45 Round Table (Presentations by 3 city representatives) 12:00 Lunch 14:00 Round Table (Presentations by 5 city representatives) 18:00 Buffet Dinner 19:15 Outdoor live performance Moon River Day 3(Sept.4) 09:00 Official City Tour (Slender West Lake & Art and Craft Gallery) 12:00 Lunch 14:00 General Overview of the Sessions 15:45 General Assembly of the League of Historical Cities :00 Closing Ceremony 19:00 Farewell Dinner Official City Tour Paticipants Ankara (Turkey) Bad Ischl (Austria) Baghdad (Iraq) Ballarat (Australia) Boston (U.S.A.) Bursa (Turkey) Buyeo (Korea) Cheng Mai (Thailand) Gongju (Korea) Gyeongju (Korea) Konya (Turkey) Kyoto (Japan) Member cities Ljubljana (Slovenia) Luxor (Egypt) Nanjing (China) Nara (Japan) Osmangazi (Turkey) Riga (Latvia) Sheki (Azerbaijan) Suwon (Korea) Tainan (Chinese Taipei) Vienna (Austria) Xi'an (China) Yangzhou (China) Zhengzhou (China) Non Member Cities Honolulu (U.S.A.) Taizhou (China) Yancheng (China) Zhenjiang (China)

4 Review of the Board of Directors Meeting & General Assembly of LHC 2014 held in Yangzhou, China on September 4, 2014 Outline of the Board of Directors Meeting Date and Time: 4 September 10:00-12:00 Venue: Shangri-La Hotel Yangzhou <Board Members> Chairperson: Kyoto (Japan) Directors: Vienna (Austria) *Vice-Chairperson Xian (China) *Vice-Chairperson Ballarat (Austria) Gyeongju (Korea) Isfahan (Iran) *Absence Konya (Turkey) Odessa (Ukraine) *Absence <Host City of the 15th World Conference of Historical Cities in 2014> At the Board of Directors Meeting, Mr. Hannes Heide, Mayor of Bad Ischl, and Mr. Aziz Elbas, Head of Culture and Tourism Department, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality made a final presentation to express the cities' desire to hold, and merits of holding, the conference in their cities. As a result of voting, the board members approved the City of Bad Ischl to host the 15th conference in Outline of the General Assembly Date and Time: 4 September 15:45-17:00 Venue: Shangri-La Hotel Yangzhou <Election of Principal Officers> According to the League s covenant article 10, the principal officers of the League are one Chairperson, seven board directors including two vice-chairpersons, and one auditor. The two vice-chairpersons are to be appointed from directors by the Chairperson. The present principal officers were elected at the General Assembly held in Nara in Their term of service expires at the first General Assembly held after four years, i.e., at this assembly. Therefore, the principal officers must be elected and their tenure is from the day of this General Assembly till the first General Assembly held four years later. The results of the General Assembly are as follows. Chairperson: Kyoto (Japan) Vice chairpersons: Vienna (Austria), Xi an (China) Directors: Baghdad (Iraq), Ballarat (Australia), Gyeongju (Korea), Konya (Turkey) Ljubljana (Slovenia) Auditor: Nara (Japan) <Report of the Results of Deliberation at the Board of Directors Meeting> Mr. Shigenori Shibata, the Secretary General of the LHC, reported the results of deliberation at the General Assembly.

5 <Yangzhou Declaration> The City of Yangzhou proposed the Yangzhou Declaration as the outcome of the 14th Conference. Mr. Zhu Minyang, Mayor of Yangzhou, explained about the Declaration, and the Chairperson of the League, Mr. Daisaku Kadokawa, Mayor of Kyoto, who took the chair of the General Assembly, confirmed its approval to the applause of the attendees. <Signing of the Yangzhou Declaration> All representatives of the member cities who attended the General Assembly went up to the stage and signed the Declaration one by one. Review of the Youth Forum held in Yangzhou, China on September 3, 2014 The Youth Forum took a stand to offer young people the opportunity to make presentations as well as to encourage nurturing those who would support the future of historical cities. 22 people participated in the forum and exchanged their ideas with each other. Also, the Youth Forum Declaration was adopted by the forum participants and was announced at the General Overview of the Sessions on 4 April, the last day of the Conference. Schedule of the Youth Forum 3 Sept. 9:00-10:30 7 presentations by youth (4 speakers from Yangzhou, one each from Kyoto, Konya, and Honolulu) 10:45-12:00 Group Discussion 14:00-19:00 Cultural Exchange <Youth Forum Declaration> We, representatives of the youth from historical cities all over the world, gathered in Yangzhou from September 2 to September 4, 2014, to discuss The Renovation of Historical Districts, within the main topic Historical Cities: Inheriting Ancient Cultures, Constructing Modern Civilizations. During this time, we shared experiences and methods to promote the renovation of historical districts. Historical districts are an important component of a city as a whole, and their renovation is closely linked with the youth of the city. For one thing, through the renovation of historical districts, the youth are able to acknowledge domestic traditions and cultures as well as overseas conditions. For another, only by widening youth participation can the renovation of historical districts be given more vitality, and the development of historical districts become more sustainable, diversified, and open to infinite possibilities. We note the problem that when the youth face new things, they to some extent lack the consciousness of protecting the historical districts and promoting the traditional cultures. This is the reason why we are here sharing experiences to protect and promote the historical cities, strengthening cultural communication and defending and promoting traditional cultures. Given this, we request that the following should be executed:

6 1. Historical districts are at the root of city history and of the continued development of traditional culture. The youth should take initiatives to understand the historical districts, acknowledge all kinds of traditional culture including traditional festivals, and become the inheritors of history and culture. 2. The renovation of historical districts should be combined with the city's economic and social development. The youth should more consciously participate in the renovation of historical districts through social practices including entrepreneurship, and bring in more young people and youthful vigor, in order to achieve healthy and sustainable development of the historical districts. 3. The youth should intensify information campaigns about the historical culture, especially by means of various types of emerging media platforms, to encourage more young people to pay attention to the protection and renovation of historical districts, and to jointly promote the development of historical districts. 4. National historical districts are humankind's common spiritual and cultural wealth. Based on enhancing mutual understanding and expanding friendship and cooperation, the youth should promote pluralistic understanding of human history and culture. 5. Within the framework of the World Conference of Historical Cities, the youth should build academic and technical exchange platforms for the active renovation of historical districts, and build long-term working mechanisms to share experiences. 6. We call on each national government to augment policy leading to renovation in order to attract, encourage and support the youth for their fruitful contributions in the renovation of historical districts and the heritage of traditional culture. Yangzhou, 4 September, 2014